Cutting-press



(No Model.)

A. V. STEVENS.

CUTTING PRESS.

No. 415,477. Patented Nov. 19, 1889.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARLIN V. STEVENS, OF CUMMINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CUTTING-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,477, dated November19, 1889.

Application iiled January 10, 1889. Serial No. 295,949. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ARLIN V. STEVENS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cummington, in the county of Hampshire and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOutting Presses, of which the following is a specification.`

This invention relates to the man nfacture of brush-handles and of otherflat articles made of wood, the object being to produce such articles bycutting them from iiat pieces of wood by the method hereinafter setforth.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying my improvements.Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the same in line a a, Fig'. 1.Fig. 3 is a horizontal section in line b I), Fig. l. Fig. 4. is asimilar view in line c c, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a vertical transversesection through the cutting -knives, showing the upper knife raised..Fig. 6 is a similar view, showing the said knife at its lowest position.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures.

The frame-work of my improved cuttingpress consists of a bed-plate A andtwo uprights B O, provided with ways 2 and 3, respectively, for thepress-slide D. The crankshaft N is carried in ordinary bearings on thetop of the uprights B O. It is provided with a pulley I), whereby it maybe revolved with an eccentric E for actuating' the plunger, and hascranks G and 8 for communicating through any suitable connections theproper reciprocating movement to the press-slide. Said connectionsconsist or may consist of the two similar and well-known connectingrods10 and 12, fitted to said cranks, respectively, and connected at theirlower ends by pivot-pins 11 13, respectively, to the adjustment stems orrods l1 16, which rods fit in holes in the upper plate 20 of thepress-slide, and are adjustably fixed therein by the pairs of nuts 15 17and 19 21', which are fitted to those threaded stems. By this means theslide is readily adjusted to the required position in the machine. Theupper and lower plates 2O and 22 of the slide D are connected aboutcentrally by a boss or hub 24, which forms a bearing for theplunger-stem 25, that is connected by the pivot-pin 27 to theeccentricrod 26 of the eccentric E.

The cutting-out knives are two in number, and are secured, one on thebed A and the other on the under side of the slide D. These knives aresimilar to those used for cutting leather in the manufacture of shoes,and should be constructed integral of good steel well tempered. Thecutting-edges of the knives being tapering' and usually brought down toa thin edge, about as shown, I fit upon each of them and rigidly securethereto a plate or knife-holder for holding the knife in place in themachine and for resisting the strong tendency of the knife to spring outof proper shape or outline during the cutting out of a brush-handle. Theupper and lower knife-holders are designated by 30 and 32, respectively,and are formed to accurately fit around or inclasp the upper and lowerknives 33 36, respectively. The said knives are securely held into theirholders by a series of horizontally-placed rivets 9. (See Figs. 5 and6.) One of the knives (the upper one, as shown in the drawings) is madesomewhat smaller than the other, so that its edge may enter within theedge of the other knife (see Fig. 6). when the press-slide is at itslowest point. The knife-holders are held in place by the bolts 7, whichare substantially the same as those commonly used to hold in place thedie-holders of ordinary punchingpresses. The lower knife stands over,or,

' rather, it surrounds, the opening T in the bed A, which opening isslightly larger than the area of the upper edge of the lower knife.Within the upper knife there is a follower or plunger 40, rigidlyaffixed to the stem 25 andv fitted to slide freely, but preferablyclosely, in said knife.

In operating the machine the piece of wood or like material 50, fromwhich the article 55, Fig. (3, is to be cut out, is placed over thelower knife as shown in Fig. 5. The crank-shaft being now revolved, theupper knife descends and cuts into the wood, at the same time drivingdown the wood onto the lower knife, so that the cutting out is doneabout equally from each side of the piece 50, thereby balancing thestrains in the material and preventing the piece cut out from beingsplit by such strains. Owing to the peculiar construction andarrangement IOO of the knives, whereby one enters the other as setforth, the piece 55 is out out entirely free from the plate 50, even ifsaid plate or board is of a somewhat tough and fibrous character, asmany kinds of woods are. The eccentric E is adjusted on itsdriving-shaft N in such manner as to bring the plunger down onto thewood at about the moment the knife 35 reaches its lowest point, as shownin Fig. 6.- This is accomplished by setting the center of said eccentricback of the cranks, so that the plunger follows the movement of theslide and is a little later in reaching the corresponding points of itsstroke. In practice, the frame-work and also the slide D (though eachshown integral in the drawings) may be made in more than one piece.

Having thus described my invention, I claiml. In a cutting-press, thecombination of a frame-work, a press-slide, actuated substantially asdescribed, and two cutting out knives of corresponding outline, oneplaced on the press-slide above and coinciding with the other knife,said knives being each brought to a thin edge of substantially equaltaper, whereby the cutting out is done substantially equally from eachside of the piece operated upon, substantially as described.

2. In a cutting-press, the combination, with a frame-work, of the lowerknife supported thereon, the press-slide, the upper knife carried onsaid slide, and the plunger working within the upper knife and operatingto drive the cut-out piece downward within the lower knife, allsubstantially as described.

3. In a cutting-press, the combination, with the frame-work, of theslideD, crank-shaft N, the knives 35 and 36, the plunger, and connectionsoperating said slide and plunger from said shaft, all substantially asdescribed.

4C. In a cutting-press, the combination of the lower knife supportedsubstantially as described, the press-slide actuated substantially asdescribed and carrying the upper knife, the stem 25, sliding within saidpress-slide, and the plunger 40 on said stem, all arranged and operatingsubstantially as described.

ARLIN V. STEVENS.

Witnesses:

LovIsA CAMPBELL, THEoDosIA M. GRAvEs.

